


caffeine, small talk

by kirani



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, First Dates, First Kiss, Flirting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23845858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirani/pseuds/kirani
Summary: Ronan Lynch is not going to rush it, but he's been meaning to ask out the Adam "black coffee, four sugars" for a while now. Today's the day.Loosely based on and title from COIN's "Talk Too Much"
Relationships: Richard Gansey III & Ronan Lynch, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Comments: 20
Kudos: 150
Collections: TRC Spring Fling





	caffeine, small talk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ghostangel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostangel/gifts).



> This was written for the TRC Spring Fling as a gift for ghostangel! The request was for coffee shops AUs or something based on a song, so I did a bit of each, hope you like it!

“He’s back,” Gansey murmured as he passed Ronan at the register.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Dick,” Ronan shot back under his breath. 

Once Gansey was out of sight, though, Ronan snuck a look at the line where Adam was standing. He knew his name was Adam because he came in at least three times a week, ordered a muffin and a black coffee that he poured copious amounts of sugar into, then sat at the corner table to work for several hours. 

Ronan was fairly certain that he was an undergrad, as he didn’t seem old enough to be a grad student, and his frequent Harvard merch made it clear which Boston school he attended. 

“You’re staring,” Gansey teased as he handed him a cup with an order scrawled on the side.

Ronan didn’t dignify it with a response, only ducked behind the espresso machine to hide his blush. He made the latte for “Amanda” and then the cappuccino for “Ben” and then he was handed exactly what he expected: a small cup with the name “Adam” and the order “black coffee.”

He filled the cup and slid it onto the counter with four sugar packets. They had long since passed the point where Adam had to ask for the sugar he preferred. Ronan just knew.

“Here's your fuckin heart attack in a cup," he said to Adam, who was already watching him when he looked up.

Adam smirked. “How do you still have a job?"

“We have an aesthetic. Better question: how are you still alive?"

“Sheer willpower,” Adam winked at him and took the coffee back to his favorite table.

“Jesus Christ,” Gansey mumbled beside him. 

“Watch your fucking mouth, Dick,” Ronan smirked back at him. 

“Oh look, it’s time for your break,” Gansey smiled sweetly. 

Ronan flicked him off before pouring himself an iced coffee and ducking out from behind the counter. He wandered over to the window and sipped his drink with forced nonchalance as he waited for Adam to notice him. 

A soft snort of laughter a moment later told him his plan had been successful. 

“Enjoying the view?” Adam asked. 

Ronan was staring at a parking lot but he nodded. “Yep.”

“Sure,” Adam laughed. 

“I don’t lie,” Ronan added casually. 

“So you enjoy looking out at the parking lot of your place of employment?”

“Yep. I just enjoy other things more.”

“Such as?” Adam prompted and Ronan turned to look at him at last. One eyebrow was crooked up and his mouth was curled in a smirk that meant he thought Ronan was being ridiculous. 

It was always like this with them. The subtle teasing, the excuses to talk to each other, but Ronan thought maybe it was time to move it forward.

“Driving around town, going to movies, taking smartass guys out to dinner,” he said, looking into Adam’s eyes. He let his eyes dart down to his lips briefly before locking eyes again. 

Adam swallowed and the skin beneath his freckles bloomed pink. “That does sound nice. Where do you find these guys?”

Ronan shrugged and looked back out the window. “Here and there. Mostly here, these days.”

In his peripheral vision, he could see Adam roll his eyes. “That was bad. Incredibly corny.”

“Is it working anyway?” Ronan smirked at him and took a long pull of his iced coffee. 

“Six o’clock work for you?” Adam said by way of reply. 

Ronan took another long drink of his iced coffee then nodded. He got off at 4:00, that was enough time to shower and get somewhere. He pulled the marker out of his apron pocket and grabbed Adam’s coffee cup from the table, scribbling his number on the paper sleeve. “Text me.” 

Adam grinned, all traces of his cool gone. 

“See you then,” Ronan said, turning to return to the counter. He had a few minutes of his break left but he didn’t want to ruin this by saying something stupid before they even got to the date. 

Gansey was staring at him as he ducked back behind the counter and slipped into the back to finish his coffee. He stuck his head through the door to continue staring at Ronan, who gave him a wink. 

“You finally did it. I thought you two were just gonna dance around each other forever!” 

“Geez, Gans, not so loud. He can hear you!”

Gansey rolled his eyes. “Doubtful.”

“I have five more minutes, let me caffeinate in peace.”

Gansey chuckled but withdrew to the front again. 

When his shift was finally over, Ronan slipped out the back door and walked the three blocks to his apartment. He took a quick shower, scrubbing off the smell of coffee and pastry and replacing it with his body wash that always reminded him of home: equal parts forest and farm.

He pulled on a clean pair of black jeans and a tank, adding his leather jacket to keep off the evening chill. He considered his jewelry tray before selecting a cross earring and putting that on, too. 

Adam had texted him the address of a restaurant a few blocks in the other direction of the shop so he should probably leave soon. He laced up his boots and tucked his keys into his jacket pocket. 

The walk only took about fifteen minutes and he scrolled through his text messages as he waited for Adam to arrive. A text from Gansey he’d ignored earlier (and skipped again) and texts from each of his brothers. He opened the one from Matthew. 

_ Brunch Saturday? I’m in town visiting some friends! _

Ronan smiled and confirmed plans. He didn’t know how Matthew kept up with all the people he knew but he was happy to see his little brother anyway. 

The text from Declan went unanswered as well, because Adam walked up before he could read it. Ronan looked up and felt his mouth fall open. Damn, but he cleaned up nice. 

His hair, usually a mess that he frantically pushed back from his forehead as he worked, had been styled neatly to one side. He had put on a nice button-up shirt in a subtle grey herringbone pattern that accentuated the broadness of his shoulders. A pair of boot cut, dark wash jeans hugged his hips in a way that promised an even better view from the back. 

Ronan whistled and was rewarded with another blush of pink across Adam’s cheekbones. 

“You look nice, too,” Adam said. “The restaurant is okay?”

“Perfect.” 

Adam smiled and opened the door, ushering Ronan through and into the cozy interior. They were seated at a corner booth and Ronan picked up his menu, glancing through the options. 

“This might be weird, but can I ask what your last name is?” Adam asked. 

Ronan looked up to see Adam hadn’t so much as picked up his menu and looked extremely nervous. “Gonna stalk me online?” he teased.

Adam laughed. “No, I just… I went on like five dates with someone once before I realized I didn’t know their last name and then it was weird to ask.”

Ronan laughed but answered. “Lynch. Ronan Lynch. I’m not on social media either, before you go looking.”

“Lynch. I like that. Suits you.”

“Thank you. And yours, Adam No-last-name?”

“Parrish.”

Ronan nodded. “That suits you as well.”

Parrish gave him a small smile. “What do you think,  _ Lynch _ ? You wanna split an appetizer?”

“Sure,  _ Parrish _ ,” Ronan smirked back. “Chicken Satay?”

“Oh, that does sound good.”

“Drinks?”

“I think I’ll stick with water,” Adam replied. After a moment he added, “I don’t drink.”

Ronan hummed. He himself drank much less than he did once and understood that people had all sorts of reasons for these sorts of things. “Have you ever tried Thai Iced Tea?”

Parrish shook his head. 

“You can try some of mine if you like,” Ronan offered. 

“Thanks,” Parrish said quietly. “And thanks for not making a big deal about it.”

“I get it, man.”

Parrish nodded and the moment passed as their waiter approached. 

Once the satay had been eaten, the tea had been shared, and their main dishes were in front of them, Ronan was finally starting to relax. They swapped stories of friends, work, and school. Adam was a graduate student at Harvard, he had been wrong about his age and no longer felt weird about dating someone younger than him. Ronan was a college dropout but he had a multitude of stories about the shop and Gansey. 

Parrish was nearly in tears from laughter by the end of the story about Gansey throwing his own sister out of the shop for disturbing their “vibe” that the waiter came to check if everything was okay. 

After dinner, and fighting the check away from Parrish, the pair of them walked down the sidewalk back towards the cafe. 

“I had a good time,” Parrish admitted softly. “I was worried, you know. We’ve been… flirting or whatever for so long, what if it didn’t hold up? What if you were thrown off by me outside of the shop? What if you --,” 

Ronan cut him off by lacing his fingers through his and pulling him to a stop on the sidewalk. “You talk too much,” Ronan teased with a smirk. 

“Oh yeah? Why don’t you come over here and shut me up, then?” Parrish smirked right back, fears seemingly put to rest by Ronan’s response as he stepped closer.

Ronan lifted his other hand to Parrish’s cheek and tilted it up to his own face, closing the distance between them in a soft kiss. 

Parrish positively melted against him, sliding his free arm around Ronan’s back and pulling them together. His lips tasted of curry and custard and Ronan nibbled at them eagerly. After a long moment, they broke apart. 

“I had a good time, too,” Ronan whispered.

Parrish’s responding grin was blinding and he pulled Ronan in for another kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you thought! i'm on Tumblr at [blueseyforthesoul](https://blueseyforthesoul.tumblr.com/).


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